SLEEP / 004 [CAN YOUR PERFORMANCE AFFECT HOW WELL YOU SLEEP?]

Question
Can how well you perform affect how well you sleep afterwards?

Study
Researchers followed 27 esports players who compete in Counter Strike, around 18 years old. For 56 days, a device measured their sleep every night. The players also rated how well they played each week.

Findings
On average, the players slept 7 hours and 12 minutes, but very late: from about 02:00 until 10:00. It took them almost an hour to fall asleep, and they were actually asleep for only about two thirds of their time in bed. Good sleepers usually reach 85% or more. The players who performed better also tended to sleep longer. And after weeks of better performance, players fell asleep earlier and got more deep sleep.

What It Means for Athletes
We usually think it only works one way: sleep well, perform well. This study suggests it might also work the other way. After a bad performance, you replay mistakes and worry, and that can keep you awake. The study can't prove what causes what, and it was a small group of gamers, not physical athletes. But the message is useful: recovery also means letting your mind switch off.

Try this: after a match or hard session, write down three lessons within an hour. Then set a clear time when the analysis stops. Reflect on your performance, just not at 2 AM.

Source
Moen, F., Vatn, M., Olsen, M., Haugan, J. A., & Skalicka, V. (2021). Sleep characteristics in esport players and associations with game performance: Residual dynamic structural equation modeling. Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, 3, 697535.

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